My practice as a visual artist seeks to interrogate the spatial languages that operate in our visual and built environments, developing work that responds to and engages with the city. My research focus Tourist Practices has culminated in a series of international and city based projects, collaborative research and exhibitions. Notably, Trading Spaces (1997) at The Bartlett School of Architecture, Future City (1999) at The Royal Institute of British Architects, and as a founder member of research group Walkscape (2002-2005) at Chelsea College of Art and Design, University of the Arts, London.

In 2005 I began working with art group Discotheque, first creating a guided tour line of sight as part of Deptford X - Ephemeral Cities, and then as part of Coryat’s Crudities (2006) I launched bookwork Tell Tales – a city guide. This project was taken to Conflux (2006) the annual New York Festival for contemporary psychogeography, and has subsequently been circulated to cities in England, USA, The Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Romania, France, Canada and Australia.

An exhibition of Tell Tales documentation is planned for later this year. I am currently developing a new book project at the Museum of London that explores Michel de Certeau’s notion of the erasure of itineraries. For this I am creating a book of calligrams, of the inbetween spaces of the city, to be part of a group show in six City of London churches.

Artist website: http://www.axisweb.org/artist/ruperthartley
Artist country: England